Film spooling apparatus and reels therefor



Oct. 4, 1932. o. WITTEL FILM SPOOLING APPARATUS AND REELS THEREFOR Filed Nov. 18, 1931 Patented Oct. 4, 1932 UNITED, "STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Om WITTEL, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO EASTMAN OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW KODAK comm, YORK mm SPOOLING ArrAnArus (AND ums Tasman.

Application filed November 18, 1931. S'erial No. 575,886.

This invention relates to a film spooling system and reels therefor for motion picture apparatus and particularly'toan improved form of reels and mounts disclosed and generically claimed in my co-pending application Serial No. 472,678 filed August 2, 1930.

As pointed out in said application, the invention is adapted for use especially with the handling of'film where two series of pietures are made on a single width of film by first exposing the other half of the film.

It is an object of this invention to provide reels and mounts therefor of such construction that a reel can be mounted on one spindle in one position only and on. the other spindle in reversed-position only.

Other objectsand advantages of the invention will appear from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which;

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the spindles mounted on a suitablesupport, this being part of a camera;

part of a camera with the reels mounted on the spindles and the cover removed;

Figure 3 is a sectional view .of my improved reel in its preferred form;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the reel shown in Figure 3; A

Figure 5 1s a sectional view of one modification of my improved reel;

Figure 6 is a sectional view showing another form which my improved reel may take; and. r

Figure 7 is a sectional view showing a modification in structure of the reel shown in Figure 3.

Referring to the drawing, a suitable support 10 which ordinarily will be the base plate frame or partition in the camera has mounted thereon a spindle-11 adapted to be driven through the pulley 12 by any suitable mechanism, not shown, and a stationary having. an annular hub portion 15 around which a film may be wound and circular flanges 16 and '17 which are attached to the hub 15 in a suitable manner, as is well under- 6 Q stood in. the art. The flanges 16 and 17 are 'key 23. It is to be understood that in a spindle 13 adapted 'tO carry a supply reel 14.

provided at their centers with offset portions 18 and 19, respectively. These portlons are axially ofiset from the. flanges 16 and 17 in the same direction and are provided with .spindle apertures 20 and 21. For easein manufacture these are identical, but the aperture 20 may be of any shape fitting over the spindles 11 and 13.

The portion of the base plate 10 immediately surrounding the driven spindle 11 is depressed to form a pocket 22 of a size suit able for receiving the rotuberance of the reel formed by the 0 set portion 19. In' order that the spindle 11 may have a driving connection with the reel 14, a key 23 or other suitable clutch element is mounted on the A spindle 11 and within the pocket 22. The aperture 21 in the protuberance 19 is provided with any suitable shape, such as shown in Figure 4, which will fit and receive the key 23 to form a driving connection with the spindle 11. It is to be noted that the reel 3 14 can be driven by the spindle 11 only when Figure 2 is an elevation in section of aby'a suitable removable cover 25 which'is adapted to be mounted in a definite spaced relation to the base plate 10 in any suitable manner as by the shouldered studs 26. Properly positioned on the cover 25 is a cup-shaped boss 27' adapted to fit over the end of the spindle 11 for holding the reel on this spindle in engagement with the clutch element or x "camera there would be a suitable casing, not shown, protecting the film from light during. use, and that the cover will be suitably secured or locked in closed position.

It is to be noted that with the above arrangement, if the reel 14 is mounted on the spindle'll with the flange having the depres sion 18 adjacent the base plate 10, no drlving connection will be had with the key 23 and the v protuberance 19 will extend to or beyond the end of the spindle 11 and be in a position to interfere with the boss 27 on the cover 25 and thereby revent the mounting of the cover on the stu 26. Also, it is to be noted that should the reel 14 be mounted on the stationa spindle 13 with the flange having the protu erance 19 adjacent the base plate 10, then the flange 17 will extend beyond the end of the s indle 13 by a distance about equal to the heig th of the raised portion 24 whichwill prevent the placing of the cover 25 in position on the shouldered studs 26.

- From the above, it is seen that I have provided a film spooling system and reels therefor in which the reels can be operatively mounted on the respective shafts only in the correct position and in which the camera cover cannot be mounted when a reel is on either of the spindles in other than a single definite position whereby improper positioning of the reels is prevented.

The preferred form of reel shown 1n Figures 3 and 4 has the ofiset portions formed in an integral part of the flanges, but it is obvious that the portion of the reel in which the apertures are formed may be constructed in various-ways. In Figure 5 is shown a reel having flanges 30 and 31 mounted on the exterior of the tubular hub 32. A block 33 havin a cylindrical aperture 34 is secured in the hu 32 in any suitable manner, as by being pressed into position where it is held frictionally, and, as shown, -the length of the block 33 is no greater than the length of the hub 32 but is axially dispaced in the hub so that one end of the block extends beyond the end of the hub to form a projection similar to the protuberance 19, as shown in Figure 3. The other end of the block 33 does not extend to the end of the hub 32 which leaves a cupshaped pocket corresponding to the depression 18, as shown in Figure 3. A keyway or notch 35 is formed in the hub at its protruding end to provide a driving connection with the key 23 of the shaft 11.

Still another form of reel, similar in some respects to Figure 5, is shown in Fi e 6. In this structure, the hollow hub 32 is provided with protruding and depressed portions in which the apertures 36 and 37 are formed, by mounting apertured ferrules in the hub 32in any suitable manner, as by being pressed into position where they are held frictionally. It is to-be noted that in this structure also the material surrounding the apertures form a protuberance on one side of the reel and a depression on the other side. of the reel similar to the structure of the preferred form shown in Figure 3, the depth of the depression and the height of the protuberance not having any necessary dimensional relation.

In Figure 7 is shown a reel similar to the one shown in Figure 3, but for manufacturing purposes the depression 40 and the fprotuberance 41 formed integral with the anges 42 and 43 respectively, are uniformly curved which shape renders the drawing of the offset portions quite simple and permits both the drawing of the oflset and the punching of the aperture in the offset in a single operation.

' While I have shown the pocket and the raised portion of the base plate as being formed integral with the base plate, it will be obvious that they may be formed in any suitable manner, it being'required only that one of the spindles have its base below the plane of the plate and that the other spindle have its base above the plane of the plate.

It is to be understood that my invention is not restricted to 'the details set forth since they may be modified within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the s irit and scope of my invention.

hat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A film spooling system for motion piccd to be removably mounted on said base plate and spaced therefrom by a distance greater than the axial length of said reel plus the height of said raised portion and the depth of said pocket, and a projection on said cover adapted to limitthe efiective axial length of said first spindle to less than the axial length of said reel plus the depth of said pocket,

whereby said cover may-not be mounted on the apparatus when said'reel is on either of said spindles in other than a single definite position, whereby improper positioning of the reel is prevented.

2; A spooling system for motion picture apparatus comprising a base plate provided with a pocket and a raised portion, two spindles mounted on the plate, one of the spindles being located in the pocket and the other spindle bein located on the raised portion of the plate, a ouble flanged reel having an aperture in each flange for removable mounting on each of said spindles, one of the flanges bemg provided with a depression adapted to receive said raised portion of; the plate and the other of the flanges having a protuberance adapted to enter said pocket, said depression,

and said protuberance surrounding the said apertures in the respective flanges.

' 3. A film reel having a hub, a. pair of nonplane flanges axially spaced on the hub, each flange having two surfaces and the four surfaces of the non-planeflanges being parallel I throughout.

4. A film reel having a hub, a pair of nonplane flanges of uniform thickness axially spaced on the hub, the shape of the non-plane flanges being such that every part of one flange is equally spaced axially from the corresponding part of the other flange.

A film reel or the like comprising a hub and axiallyspaced flanges, each flange having an aperture, the portions of the flanges containing the apertures being axially displaced, in the same direction, relative to the main portions of the flanges.

6. A film reel or the like including a cylindrical hub, a flange mounted on each end of the hub and perpendicular to the axis thereof, the areas of th the circumference of the ially and in the same dir of the hub and bein apertures.

hub being offset axection from the ends g provided with spindle 7 A reel having a core and two flanges,

e reel having a. central aperture therethrough, one side of the reel being depressed about said aperture and within the core, and the other side of the reel having a protuberance about the aperture.

8. A film reel including two flanges axially spaced on a hollow hub, an apertured block mounted in said hub, the length of said block being no greater than the length of said hub an?) axially displaced with respect to said Signed at Rochester, N. Y. this 13 day of October, 1931.

' OTTO WITTEL. 

